Display device, electronic paper and electronic paper file

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises a display sheet, a light guide sheet and a light source provided to at least one side of the light guide sheet. And an electronic paper of the invention has a configuration for color display that the display sheet is made up by laminating respective display sheets for red, green and blue colors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a display device such as an electronic paper,an electronic paper file and the like, which comprising a sheet-likedisplay unit provided with data-writing means and data-eliminatingmeans, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art

The more the recent information technology society progresses, the morethe technology for a display and a hardcopy get to be important. Thepaper, which has always been used as a medium of informationcommunication, is very usable still now regarding the portability, therecord-ability and the method of recognizing information by human.Therefore, not only a display medium such as CRT and LCD, but also asheet-like display medium including the memory function has beendeveloped recently.

As the above sheet-like display medium, the concept of an electronicpaper is proposed (in Japanese laid-open publication No. 10-171620), andan electronic paper file is also proposed in which a plurality ofelectronic papers are bound into a book (PCT Japanese translationpublication No. 11-502950). In addition, as a recording material to beapplied to the display medium various rewritable recording materials arestudied (See pp 209 to 251 of “Japan Hardcopy'99—Theses” published byThe Imaging Society in Japan).

One of the rewritable recoding mediums is a nonvolatile material, whichis applied to the electronic paper. There is a display medium using thesmectic liquid crystal of the transmissive liquid crystal and theGuest-Host type of the liquid crystal/polymer composite film adoptingthe dichronic dye as the nonvolatile materials, for example. In thedisplay medium, the dichronic dye is oriented together with the liquidcrystal by heat and gets to be in the focal conic state; thereby thelight absorption increases, and the display medium gets luminous.Additionally, by loading the electric charge on the display medium, thefocal conic state changes to the homeotropic state, and then the colorsfade away.

And, a display medium 30 as shown in FIG. 10 is configured so as afront-light 31 is provided to under a display unit 34 intervening anair-layer 35 between them; the display unit 34 using a reflective liquidcrystal as the nonvolatile material. The front-light 31 comprises alight guide plate 33 and a light source 32 such as a cold-cathode tubeor LED attached to one side of the light guide plate 33. Moreover,either of the upper surface or the lower surface of the light guideplate 33 is formed in a shape of prism consecutively so that the lightfrom the light source 34 may irradiate a whole surface of the displayunit 34.

The liquid crystal used by the display unit of the above-mentioneddisplay medium is the nematic type or the smectic type. In the eithercase, when the display is performed in the color mode of Red (R), Green(G), and Blue (B), three liquid crystals corresponding to the RGB mustbe arranged in parallel on a plane surface in order to display onepixel. That is to say, the number of pixels on the display unit in thecolor mode requires three times as much as that in the monochrome mode.

As shown in the configuration of the conventional display medium 30,when there is the air-layer 35 between the display unit 34 using thereflective crystal liquid and the light guide plate 33 of thefront-light 31, a light coming in at a specific incident angle, which isone of the lights coming into the display unit 34 from the light guideplate 33, reflects on the surface of the display unit 34, therefore thecontrast and the coefficient of utilization of light decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In consideration of the above situations, the invention is proposed andhas an object to provide a display device such as an electronic paperand electronic paper file; the electronic paper of a sheet-like recodingmedium has the number of pixels for displaying in color mode as much asthose in monochrome mode, and the display device capable of improvingthe coefficient of utilization of the light from a light source.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention has a configurationthat a display sheet of a display unit is directly joined to a lightguide sheet.

The display sheet has a reflective type structure that the display sheetusing a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal for red color, thedisplay sheet using a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal forgreen color, and the display sheet using a nonvolatile and reflectiveliquid crystal for blue color are laminated.

The light guide sheet is configured so as to attaching a light sourcefor illumination to either sides or one side of the light guide sheet.The light from the light source is guided to a specific position of thedisplay sheet. The light guide sheet is provided with a specific numberof grooves to have a specific shape and a specific depth arranged on anupper side of the light guide sheet in parallel with the light source ofthe light guide sheet at a specific pitch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an outside view of an electronic paper to which the inventionis applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic paper to which the inventionis applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a display unit of an electronic paper towhich the invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ of a display unit of anelectronic paper to which the invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram explaining the concrete size of a display unit of anelectronic paper to which the invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a concrete example in case of changing apitch between grooves according to the distance from a right source.

FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining a concrete example in case of changing adepth of a groove according to the distance from a right source.

FIG. 8 is an outside view of another configuration of an electronicpaper to which the invention is applied.

FIG. 9 is an outside view of an electronic paper file to which theinvention is applied.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional display medium providedwith a display unit of a reflective liquid crystal and a front-light.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The invention is explained according to FIGS. 1 to 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic paper 1 of the invention comprises adisplay unit 2 that has an area for displaying data, and a displaydriving unit 3 for controlling display of the data on the display unit2.

The display unit 2, which is in a sheet-like shape, is configured so asa display sheet 4 using a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal isdirectly joined to a light guide sheet 6 for guiding lights irradiatedfrom a light source to the display sheet 4, as shown in FIG. 3.

In case RGB color is displayed, the display sheet 4 of the display unit2 has a device structure that a display sheet 4R using a nonvolatile andreflective liquid crystal for red color (R), a display sheet 4G using anonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal for green color (G), and adisplay sheet 4B using a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal forblue color (B) are laminated, as shown in FIG. 4. The structure isexplained in detail hereinafter.

First, the display sheet 4R is provided with two sheets of base films D1and D5 of which indium tin oxide (ITO)(tin oxide) electrodes areprinted, evaporated or laminated with a striped pattern at intervals ofpixel on one surface. And, the sheets are arranged so as the upper andlower ITO electrodes face each other with reflective liquid crystal D3between them, and the upper and lower ITO electrodes form the matrixpattern. Of the upper and lower ITO electrodes, the upper ITO electrodesare used as row electrodes D2, while the lower ITO electrodes are usedas column electrodes D4.

In the same way of the display sheet 4R, the display sheet 4G isprovided with two sheets of base films E1 and E5 of which ITO electrodesare printed, evaporated or laminated with a striped pattern at intervalsof pixel on one surface. And, the sheets are arranged so as the upperand lower ITO electrodes face each other with reflective liquid crystalE3 between them, and the upper and lower ITO electrodes form the matrixpattern. Of the upper and lower ITO electrodes, the upper ITO electrodesare used as row electrodes E2, while the lower ITO electrodes are usedas column electrodes E4.

Furthermore, the display sheet 4B is also provided with two sheets ofbase films F1 and F5 of which ITO electrodes are printed, evaporated orlaminated with a striped pattern at intervals of pixel on one surface.And, the sheets are arranged so as the upper and lower ITO electrodesface each other with reflective liquid crystal F3 between them, and theupper and lower ITO electrodes form the matrix pattern. Of the upper andlower ITO electrodes, the upper ITO electrodes are used as rowelectrodes F2, while the lower ITO electrodes are used as columnelectrodes F4.

Here, one of the row electrodes and the column electrodes in therespective display sheets 4R, 4G and 4B is used as anodes. And the otheris used as cathodes. Furthermore, all electrodes to be used as cathodesmay be united into a common electrode.

And, the display sheet 4 has a device structure provided with a lightabsorber layer 9 on a surface opposite to the surface of the laminateddisplay sheets 4R, 4G and 4B joined to the light guide sheet 6. Besides,the light absorber layer 9 absorbs unnecessary light from the lightguide 6 permeating the laminated display sheets 4R, 4G and 4B, andthereby the deterioration of the contrast can be prevented.

In the device structure of the display sheet 4 that the display sheets4R, 4G and 4B are laminated, there are the mutually adjoining base filmsD1 and E5 and the mutually adjoining base films E1 and F5 in thelaminated display sheets 4R, 4G and 4B. However, there can be onlyeither of base films D1 or E5 and either of the base films E1 or F5, forexample, the base film D1 and the base film E1.

Next, it is configured so as a light source 8 are attached to at leastone side of the light guide sheet 6. Thereby the light from the lightsource 8 can be guided to a specific position of the display sheet 4.And it is possible to adopt an organic or inorganic electro-luminescenceor a light-emitting device as the light source 8,

The light guide sheet 6 is provided with a specific number of grooves 7arranged at a specific pitch in parallel with the light source 8 of thelight guide sheet 6 on an upper surface of the light guide 6 where thedisplay sheet 4 is not joined. The each groove 7 has a specific shapeand a specific depth of zero point several μm to several hundreds μm,for example.

In this embodiment, the light source 8 is arranged so as to be attachedto one side of the light guide sheet 6 opposite to the display drivingunit 3 and the light guide sheet 6 is provided with a plurality ofgrooves 7 in parallel with the light source 8, as shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 3.

The light guide sheet 6 guides the light from the light source 8 to aspecific position on the display sheet 4, and the light shines on thedisplay sheet 4 effectively by the light reflection corresponding to thearrangement and shape of the grooves 7 of the light guide sheet 6. Andthe grooves 7 are placed between the pixels so as to be in a pitchcorresponding to the pixel of the reflective liquid crystal D3, E3 andF3, as shown in FIG. 4. Thereby it is possible to irradiate the displaysheet corresponding to the pixel.

Moreover, since the light guide sheet 6 is joined to the display sheet 4directly, the light guided by the light guide sheet 6 and reflected onthe surface of the display sheet 4 is to pass through the light guidesheet 6 again. And the light is to enter the display sheet 4 at adifferent angle of incidence because of refraction by the groove 7 ofthe light guide sheet 6. Accordingly the coefficient of utilization ofthe light can be improved.

For example, the groove 7 of the light guide sheet 6 has a shape of atriangular prism (the section is in a shape of a triangle) as shown inFIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. When the thickness T of the light guide sheet6 is from not less than 0.1 mm to not more than 2 mm, the depth d of thegroove 7 is preferable to keep from not less than one fifth to not morethan one third of the light guide sheet's thickness. The tip angle θ ofthe groove 7 should be from not less than 60 degrees to not more than100 degrees. In addition, the more increases the distance X from thelight source 8, the more decreases the light volume, and therefore thepitch P of the groove 7 may not be given as a fixed value but may bearranged to be reduced gradually as the groove keeps away from the lightsource 8.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the pitch Pn[mn] between a groove Mn anda next groove Mn+1 is definitely expressed by Pn=200/Xn−1, where thelength of the light guide sheet 6 is 200 mm and the distance between thegroove Mn and the light source 8 is Xn−1[mn]. At this time, thethickness T of the light guide sheet 6 is 0.5 mm while the depth d ofthe groove 7 is 0.1 mm; the tip angle θ of the groove 7 is 90 degrees.In this example, the pitch P1 between the groove M1 nearest to the lightsource 8 and the next groove M2 is 10 mm when the distance X0 betweenthe groove M1 and the light source 8 is 20 mm. And the pitch P2 betweenthe groove M2 and the next groove M3 is found as about 6.7 mm since thedistance X1 between the groove M2 and the light source 8 is (20+10)=30mm. As described above, the pitch P of the groove 7 gets smallergradually as the groove keeps away from the light source 8, therebyillumination can be two-dimensionally uniform.

When the thickens T of the light guide sheet 6 and the depth d and tipangle θ of the groove 7 are within the above-mentioned scope, where thepitch P of the groove 7 is proportioned to the a-th power of thedistance from the light source 8 (a is a constant from −0.5 to −3),uniformity required for illumination can be obtained.

When the pitch P of the groove 7 gets smaller as a groove 7 keeps awayfrom a light source gradually as a rule, it occurs that a position ofthe groove 7 is not corresponding to the joint of a pixel 41. In thiscase, in order to adjust the pitch P of the groove 7 to the pitch of thepixel 41, the groove 7 may be placed on the joint of the pixel 41nearest to the position defined by the rule. At this time, if the pitchP of the groove 7 defined by the rule gets smaller than the pitch of thepixel, the following pitch of the groove 7 is made to be the same asthat of the pixel. Therefore, without arranging that the pitch P of thegroove get smaller than the required size, illumination can be effectiveand uniform.

In an example shown in FIG. 7(a), the groove 7 is arranged at a constantpitch, however, even in this case, when the depth d of the groove 7 getslarger gradually as the groove keeps away from the light source 8(dn<dn+1), illumination can be two-dimensionally uniform.

For instance, when the thickness T of the light guide sheet 6 is 0.5 mm,the pitch P of the groove 7 is 1 mm, and the tip angle θ of the groove 7is 90 degrees, the depth d[μm] of the groove 7 is expressed by d=α×X[mn]provided that a is defined as a constant and as 1.0×10⁻³ in thisembodiment. At this time, where the distance between the groove 7nearest to the light source 8 and the light source 8 is 20 mm, the depthd of the groove 7 is found to be 20 μm. The depth d[μm] of the groove 7next to the groove 7 is found to be 21 μm.

When the thickens T of the light guide sheet 6 and the depth d and tipangle θ of the groove 7 are within the above-mentioned scope, where thepitch P of the groove 7 is proportioned to the b-th power of thedistance from the light source 8 (b is a constant from 5 to 3),uniformity required for illumination can be obtained. Besides, when thepitch P of the groove 7 is defined as a constant as described above, thepitch P should be corresponding to the pitch of the pixel 41.

Moreover, by changing both the pitch P and the depth d of the groove 7,illumination can be two-dimensionally uniform.

There is other configuration as shown in FIG. 8 that two light sourcesare provided on the both side of the light guide sheet 6. The lightsource 8 a is provided on a position between the display driving unit 3and the light guide sheet 6 while the light source 8 b is provided so asto be opposite to the light source 8 a. In this case, the light guidesheet 6 is provided with a plurality of grooves 7 in parallel with thelight sources 8 a and 8 b and arranged at a pitch getting fine graduallyas getting closer to the center of the light guide sheet 6.

The following explanation refers to the operations of respectivereflective liquid crystals D3, E3 and F3 of the display sheets 4R, 4Gand 4B. In case of the display sheet 4R, when a specific voltage isimpressed between the row electrode D2 and the column electrode D4, itchanges the orientation of the reflective liquid crystal D3 of the pixelcorresponding to the position, which is called as “address” hereafter,where the row electrode D2 and the column electrode D4 are crossed. Thered light corresponding to the reflective liquid crystal D3 is reflectedor is transmitted according to the change of orientation, thereby it ispossible to display or eliminate in red per pixel. For instance, whenthe displaying in red is performed, the orientation of the reflectiveliquid crystal D3 may be changed so as to reflect the red light byimpressing the specific positive voltage. On the other hand, when thedisplaying in red is eliminated, the orientation of the reflectiveliquid crystal D3 may be changed so as to transmit the red light byimpressing a specific negative voltage. When the voltage is notimpressed, the orientation of the reflective liquid crystal D3 ismaintained without change. Therefore, the state of the displaying isalso maintained. The operations of the display sheets 4G and 4B are thesame as that of the display sheet 4R.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electronic paper 1 comprising thedisplay unit 2 wherein the display sheet 4 is directly joined to thelight guide sheet 6.

The display driving unit 3 of the electronic paper 1 is provided withdisplay drivers 12 a (a: the number for distinguishing a display driverfrom others, and represented by 1, 2, 3 . . . m) consisting of aplurality of semiconductor chips. The display driver 12 a is wired foreach layer of the reflective liquid crystals of R,G,B. For instance, inthe display sheet 4R, the row wiring L2R consists of the row electrodeD2 and wiring between the row electrode D2 and the display driver 122,while the column wiring L1R consists of the column electrode D4 andwiring between the column electrode D4 and the display driver 121. Andthe row wiring and the column wiring are respectively connected withdifferent semiconductor chips. In the respective display sheets 4G and4B, the display driver 12 a is wired in the same way of the displaysheet 4R.

The display driver 12 a decodes display data by means of control means21 comprised in the following electronic paper file 20; the display datais in a size of a specific bit and consists of data sent per datacorresponding to one pixel of respective display sheets 4R, 4G and 4B(which is called “pixel data” hereinafter) and the position informationof data corresponding to the address of the pixel. And then the controlmeans 21 outputs the voltage corresponding to the decoded data to therow wiring and the column wiring per the display sheet 4R, 4G and 4Bcorresponding to the coordinates position.

In the display sheet 4 of the display unit 2, each liquid crystal D3, E3and F3 of the pixel corresponding to the address to which the voltage isoutputted per the display sheet 4R, 4G and 4B has a specificorientation, and the light of R, G, B is reflected or transmitted.Thereby, the data is displayed in the color mode or the display of thedata is eliminated. For instance, for displaying one pixel in red,respective reflective liquid crystals E3 and F3 of the pixel of thedisplay sheet 4G and 4B are oriented so as to transmit the light, whilethe reflective liquid crystal D3 of the pixel of the display sheet 4R isoriented so as to reflect the light. In addition, for displaying onepixel in white, respective reflective liquid crystals D3, E3 and F3 ofthe pixel of the display sheet 4R, 4G and 4B are oriented so as toreflect the light, that is to say, so as to reflect the RGB lights.

The number of the semiconductor tips used as the display driver 12 a maybe determined properly by the method of controlling to output thevoltage to the column wiring and row wiring per the display sheet 4R, 4Gand 4B. It is possible to consider other methods as the wiring method ofthe display driver 12 a and the row and column electrode per the displaysheet 4R, 4G and 4B, but the detailed explanation is not described here.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 9, a female connection terminal 13 isprovided on one side of the electronic paper 1, and while a maleconnection terminal 25 is provided at a corresponding position of theelectronic paper file 20 (a back side of a back). The female connectionthermal 13 and the male connection terminal 25 are in pairs. The femaleconnection terminal 13 is connected with the male connection terminal 25so as to be capable of attaching/detaching. The female connectionterminal 13 is provided with a connecting function physically capable ofdetaching/attaching the electronic paper 1 from/to the electronic paperfile 20 and the function ensuring the electric connection performance.

That is to say, the connection terminal 13 of the electronic paper 1 isprovided with pin receivers 1 c (c: the number for distinguishing a pinreceiver from others, and represented by 1, 2 . . . n) corresponding tothe number of wiring from the display driver 12 and corresponding to thewiring LL from the light source 8. On the other hand, the connectionterminal 25 of the electronic paper file 20 is provided with thecorresponding numbers of pins 2 d (d: the number for distinguishing apin of a connection terminal from others, and represented by 1, 2, . . .,n) at the potion corresponding to the pin receiver 1 c. By connectingthe female and male connection terminals 13 and 25, the display driver12 a of the electronic paper 1 can be connected electrically with thecontrol means 21, etc. comprised in the electronic paper file 20.

It is needless to say that the electronic paper 1 and the electronicpaper file 20 may be connected electrically with each other somehow; forexample, it may be by wireless (IRDA, etc.). In such case, theelectronic paper 1 and the electronic paper file 20 must be providedwith communication means capable of the wireless connectionrespectively.

It can consider the outside view of the electronic paper 1 as the lengthof longitudinal direction of the display driving unit 3 is the same asthe length of one side of external of the display unit 2, for example,as shown in FIG. 1, or the length of longitudinal direction of thedisplay driving unit 3 is longer than the length of one side of externalof the display unit 2 (which is not shown in the drawing). And thethickness of the electronic paper 1 is preferable to get thicker as muchas possible.

Besides, it is preferable that a material to be used the display drivingunit 3 should have the Young's module larger than that of the displayunit 2 so as to prevent the display driver 12 a of the semiconductorchip from the damage.

The control means 21 is provided at a specific position on the back ofthe electronic paper file 20 as shown in FIG. 9, and comprises signalsending-receiving means and display light emitting control means (notshown).

The signal sending-receiving means receives from other electronic paperfiles or a personal computer the data comprising the pixel data and theposition information to be displayed on the display sheet 4 of theelectronic paper 1, and sends the received data to the display lightemitting control means.

The display light emitting control means attaches to the data receivedfrom the signal sending-receiving means a specific bit of data toinstruct whether the received data should be written into the displaysheet 4, and then sends them to the electronic paper 1 as the specificbit of display data per data corresponding to a pixel.

That is to say, the control means 21 controls the display of data whenthe electronic paper 1 to which data is written is installed to theelectronic paper file 20 by using the connection terminals 13 and 25.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the invention is applied to theelectronic paper and the electronic paper file, however it is possibleto apply the invention to other display device such as the liquidcrystal panel comprising the display sheet and the light guide sheet,and the like.

As described above, the display unit of the invention is configured soas the light guide sheet is directly joined to the upper surface of thedisplay sheet, and the upper surface of the light guide sheet isprovided with a specific number of grooves to have a specific shape anda specific depth in parallel with the light source of the light guidesheet at a specific pitch. Thereby it is possible to improve thecoefficient of utilization of the light.

The display sheet has a reflective type structure that a display sheetusing a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal for red color, adisplay sheet using a nonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal forgreen color, and a display sheet using a nonvolatile and reflectiveliquid crystal for blue color are laminated. Thereby the number ofpixels for the display in the color mode can be as much as that in themonochrome mode. Moreover, the other surface of the display sheet notjoined to the light guide sheet is provided with the light absorberlayer, thereby it is possible to prevent the deterioration of thecontrast.

1. A display device comprising: a display sheet; a light guide sheet, asurface of which is in direct contact with a surface of the displaysheet; and a light source placed on at least one side of the light guidesheet.
 2. A display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guidesheet is provided with a specific number of grooves to have a specificshape and a specific depth on a surface opposite to the surface of thelight guide sheet joined to the display sheet in parallel with the lightsource at a specific pitch.
 3. A display device according to claim 2,wherein the pitch of the grooves is corresponding to a pixel of thedisplay sheet.
 4. A display device according to claim 2, wherein thepitch of the grooves get smaller gradually as the groove keeps away fromthe light source.
 5. (canceled)
 6. A display device according to claim2, wherein the depth of the groove gets larger gradually as the groovekeeps away from the light source.
 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)
 9. Anelectronic paper comprising: a display sheet using a nonvolatile andreflective liquid crystal; a light guide sheet, a surface of which is indirect contact with a surface of the display sheet; and a light sourceplaced on at least one side of the light guide sheet.
 10. An electronicpaper according to claim 9, wherein the display sheet has a reflectivetype structure that a display sheet using a nonvolatile and reflectiveliquid crystal for red color, a display sheet using a nonvolatile andreflective liquid crystal for green color, and a display sheet using anonvolatile and reflective liquid crystal for blue color are laminated.11. An electronic paper according to claim 9, wherein the light guidesheet is provided with a specific number of grooves to have a specificshape and a specific depth on a surface opposite to the surface of thelight guide sheet joined to the display sheet in parallel with the lightsource at a specific pitch.
 12. An electronic paper according to claim11, wherein the pitch of the grooves is corresponding to a pixel of thedisplay sheet. 13-15. (canceled)